Bangchak’s Conserve & Share for Happiness Project Bags Circular Economy Leadership Award from Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards 2020

The “Conserve & Share for Happiness” project has been a winner of Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards 2020 (AREA 2020) through the Circular Economy Leadership category. The accolade comes from Enterprise Asia, which independently supports, promotes, and empowers socially and environmentally responsible businesses across Asia for sustainable-development causes.

Mr. Chaiwat Kovavisarach, chief executive officer and president of Bangchak Corporation Public Company Limited (Bangchak), reveals that, “Bangchak’s Conserve & Share for Happiness project has recently won an award from Enterprise Asia at the Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards 2020 or AREA 2020 forum in Circular Economy Leadership category because it remarkably reduces waste at its origin by collecting emptied PET drinking-water bottles from customers/consumers for recycling”.

“Bangchak Group is committed to deploying innovations for natural resources in pursuit of sustainability in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). We embrace BCG Economy Model, which resonates with the government’s economic-development concept. Not only that this model pursues economic development, but it also advocates social and environmental care for the sake of security and sustainability. Green Economy in the model aims at solving environmental problems, while Bio Economy focuses on resource efficiency. Circular Economy, meanwhile, places an emphasis on making the utmost out of in-use resources,” he continues.

“In the past decade, the amount of plastic waste in Thailand has gone up by about two million tons each year on average. Of it, just about 500,000 tons have been recycled. Bangchak has thus come up with the Conserve & Share for Happiness project to curb plastic waste especially that from single-use plastics. Under this initiative, plastic waste has been recycled with its fibers used for public interests. For example, the recycled fiber has been turned into caps for Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s cleaners in all 50 districts of Bangkok and volunteer cleaners in Pattaya City, plus over 12,000 caps for taskforces fighting marine debris. From the project’s recycling operations, physically-challenged staff at 60+ Plus Bakery & Chocolate Cafe under the care of the Foundation of Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability have also got caps and aprons,” he adds.

“I am immensely glad that the Conserve & Share for Happiness project has won the award, which underlines Bangchak Group’s status as a leader of BCG Economy Model. In fact, we have applied this model to all our business processes. We have developed eco-friendly bio-based fuel products. We have introduced completely biodegradable cups and no-straw practice to Inthanin cafes. Also, we have implemented several social and environmental projects such as the Conserve & Share for Happiness project and the Cup for Seedlings initiative. I really would like to thank Enterprise Asia for granting us this award,” Mr. Chaiwat concludes.

At the ceremony whereby the Conserve & Share for Happiness project is honored, Mr. Chaiwat is also the first two Thais to win Responsible Business Leadership award from Enterprise Asia because he has outstandingly transformed Bangchak into a greenovation group for sustainable future. Not only that the transformation goes well with global trends, but it also underlines Bangchak’s unwavering commitment to operating its businesses with social and environmental responsibility.